Well I dropped the pan last night on my 1.5 d15b2. What I found was some speck kinda stuff on the screen and down in that well that the pickup sits in. The screen wasn't cover up but there were some stuff on it. Not sure how much it takes to trigger the pressure light though. It's amazing how dirty the oil looked with only a hundred or so miles on it! Any ideas? Would that cause the pressure to drop when revving it just slightly (only up to like 2000-2500rpms max)? No sludge in the pan at all.

 

You should remove the oil filter and cut it open.Then look for metel debris in there.If you see enough to notice,it's ticking timebomb

 

Blocked oil passageways, too large clearance on bearings, bad oil pump.


How many Miles on your engine? I sugest pulling off the pickup, blowing out the screen with compressed air, and reinstalling it (get a new gasket). And remember, blow from the inside of the pickup or else you will just ge tthe pieces stuck more.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dbailey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> It's amazing how dirty the oil looked with only a hundred or so miles on it! </TD></TR></TABLE>

If whomever rebuilt the engine didn't ctank the engine and get all the debris out then you will have crapp all over in the oil and the water.

Other things may be that the bearings ran dry for some reason and are flaking off.
Does the stuff you found look like flat flakes of chrome or more like little chips/chunks of metal?

 

There are less than 100,000 miles on the engine. It came out of a crashed 91 Civic sedan. It was was cared for real good. I got the maintenance records. It hasn't been rebuilt. It was dark last night so I didn't take a close look. I'll check this afternoon after I get off and there is some sunshine. The stuff on the screen and what I got on my fingertip when I stuck it down in the place where the pickup sits were really small specks from the looks of it.

 

I know sometimes hondabond / silicone will find its way up in the pickup screen... thats no big deal.

 

I love to find that that is all it is!!!!!!!

 

Well here we go. I stuck my finger in the bottom of the oil pan area where the pickup goes. There is way more sludge than I thought! Got a finger tip full of sludge. The specks look and feel like carbon. Non-metallic. There is build-up inside the slot of the pickup. I looked to the inside of the area where the screen is and I can see build-up in there, too. Opinion?

 

Just talked to the guy I bought the engine from and he said they changed the oil a couple of times the few thousand miles they had it. Would sludge build up over less than 100,000 miles (around 98,000 to be exact) in the bottom of the pan enough to clog the screen?

 

the best you can do is use the compressed air to blow it out, and then perhaps get a magnetic oil pan screw in case something does end up in the oil. also a lot of people on here have used seafoam to clean the inside of the engine and say it works, i myself have yet to do this, but do a search for seafoam and maybe it can help with your carbon buildup.

 

Seafoam

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into the Seafoam right away.

 

its a d-series, drive it till it blows, then buy another for 200 bucks

 

Ha! If this car wasn't for my 15 year old that is prolly what I'd do but.......

 

Ever find out what was in your pickup screen?

 

Haven't determined it yet. I plan on taking the pan and pick up to this guy that works at a Honda repair shop tomorrow and get his opinion. Also am trying to catch up with this guy that has worked at a Honda dealership repair department for 30 years to get his opinion, too. I really think it is just carbon flakes now that I've looked at it pretty close. That plus the muddy sludge I got on my finger when I ran it through the oil that was residual in the bottom of the pan. There is enough sludge in the bottom of the pan that I think is was just getting picked up and triggering the light. What gets me is where that sludge came from if everyone supposedly changed the oil meticulously before I got it and from the looks of everything under the valve cover and the bottom end they did. I'll post tomorrow the results.

 

"copper" flakes in your oil means youve spun a bearing. very bad.

 

Fortunately mine are black.

 

Seafoam. do a search. This will clean the engine out like WHOA.

 

Looks like they sell that stuff at most auto parts stores. As soon as I verify what the specks are, I'll get some of that stuff and use it. I thought it was interesting how you add that stuff to the oil and don't have to drain it out like other engine cleaners I've seen. Thanks for the good words.